My favourite two albums from my research were the famous Beatles album, The White Album, and Frank Ocean's popular debut album, Channel Orange. I even enjoyed looking at them side by side, as they were such similar concepts from very different genres and eras. I personally preferred Ocean's artwork, because of its simple style and alignment, proving that artwork can be this simple and still this eye-catching. Nonetheless, I very much liked the basic black and white contrast on the Beatles artwork. I decided to put my favourite things from both albums together, along with my own creative style and concept.
My Concept:
My idea spawned from a mixture of my research on existing covers and also, on the lesson we were given on 'The Fundamental Principles Of Graphic Design' in workshops, wherein we discussed the importance, and reasons behind, the use of proximity, alignment, repetition and contrasts. I thought a lot about these concepts, and decided that I would have to play around with them in order to find the idea I want. In relation to the critically acclaimed and highly recognised cover by the Beatles, I knew that by ignoring these so called 'fundamental principles' I could find a particular style which many actually find interesting.
The first idea I had that really grew on me, I called 'Death Over Dishonor'. I had been listening to a rapper called J. Cole who was recommended to me by a friend, and he would often use this phrase, which I liked the sound of. I then went on to research it's meaning. A website called www.rapgenius.com which explains the meaning behind rap lyrics, explained it as 'a common saying where a man would rather die than to bring shame or disgrace upon oneself'. In my head, I delved further into the meaning behind this phrase. I began to understand it as, figuratively speaking, you would rather die, than to be a hypocrite and go against your deepest beliefs and moral obligations for any reason. This phrase really grew on me - ideas began to fly! I immediately digitally organised my ideas.
This was my first product:
Analysing my own work, it is clear I have used contrast as a defining factor. There is an obvious contrast through two main components; colour, and font. The two fonts work very well together, although completely different styles. One is handwriting, the other print, but both appear sophisticated, sleek and sharp, therefore, although dissimilar, they create a successful contrast. The most basic contrast of them all, is that of black and white. It works well here, as it is so sharp and eye-catching. The writing on the first page is a good size, where it remains stylish and acute, but is still readable and engaging. Additionally, the black and white ties in with the 'Parental Advisory', the barcode, and the distributer/producer logos, maintaing a colour theme, which allows the piece to look neat and sharp.
Overall, I was happy with my product, although it was a first draft. I really enjoyed the contrasts, the simple, central alignment, the proximity used on the title, to leave the rest of the page clean and blank. One of personal favourite things about this piece, is the use of the line in the title, in replacement of the word 'over' like a division. I think this is different, and creative, and most of all aesthetically pleasing. It works well with the fonts and the style of the piece and overall, compliments the class of the album cover.
Although I loved the simplicity of this piece, I kept feeling that it had almost 'been done before'. I didn't want it to seem un-memorable, or boring, or easy. I think part of this came through the way I stuck to the rules a bit. My mind then drifted back to 'The White Album' and I thought, it was remembered because it broke the rules, because it was different. So I tried to do something I haven't seen before, whilst still maintaining characteristics from my main idea.
My new idea held many similarities to my original. The main difference comes within the front cover, wherein I changed the design, layout and style of the title appearance. I went against the rules of proximity, and separated the two bracketing words of the title to opposing corners of the page. This look is contemporary, sophisticated and clean. I hope it doesn't come of as confusing, and rather, sparks interest and is found appealing. A main change in this piece, is the use of the definitions of the words. They are in bold, so they stand out and remain eye-catching. Furthermore, rather than have the one small line within the title, to represent the word 'over' I struck a line through the centre of the page, to split the two defining words, but to keep the same title meaning and interpretation as before. I also used the same line on the back cover, to create a contrast through horizontal and vertical. To make up for the lack of proximity, the fonts remain the same, so they can be related at least in one way. The reason I decided to use the definitions of the words was mainly because it was new, fresh, innovative and different. it is something that hasn't been done before, and in this modern age of media, artists and designers are always looking for new ways to spark interest and be different. Personally, I really like this idea, because it is different, but not to the point where it is controversial, overly confusing, or too simple. It is different through being fresh, and it maintains it's sharpness and it's style.
Secondly, I wanted to create a solo Spartan on a blank white canvas. I planned on creating the image solely out of arrows, which are different colour to create shading. This was inspired by the iconic scene in the film where the Spartans are threatened by a messanger who states "our arrows will blot out the Sun!" to which one of the Spartans replies "Then we will fight in the shade." Unfortunately, after a few attempts at drawing or designing the Spartan, I began to realise the idea and picture in my head was too artistic and too complex to create myself.
After a few failed attempts at ideas, I went back to my research, and especially, looked closely at Olly Moss' work on his Star Wars poster. I began to create a Spartan silhouette on flash to replicate this style. I coloured the Spartan in a deep crimson colour, to resemble that of the iconic Spartan cape. I then went to tint the backdrop in a parchment cream colour, to further establish the colours used of the backdrop in the film. So far, my design looked simple, and basic, but clean. It showed promise so I continued my work on it. I added a quote, the title and the credits. After this, I began thinking of how to fill the Spartan. I decided to use images from the film and change their opacity from 100% to 20%, making them barely visible, and also, allowing them to take on the colour of the backdrop. Furthermore, the images began to have a nostalgic feel to them, and through their presentation within the Spartan silhouette, they began to seem like memories of battle for the soldier shown, which I really liked. 
The third part of the design portfolio was the creation of a movie poster. I had developed movie posters in the past for GCSE and A-Level media, but I felt that since I had been at University, I have gained knowledge and tools which would aid me to create a poster of much higher quality and professionalism than I have before.
Through our initial research we were directed to many freelance poster design websites. Among these was the site of designer Olly Moss, which was my favourite. His idea's were pure genius. The kind you think 'so simple, yet so brilliant'. The kind I personally would think "why couldn't I think of that!?" His work really inspired me, most especially, above others, was his work on the original Star Wars trilogy (IV, V, VI).
The hard part came when I had to create my characters. I tried to copy and paste a picture into Illustrator of the two but it was to artificial, to easy, to simple. I felt no fullfilment out of this and decided to take the long road in creating my own characters. I was advised to turn to Adobe Flash, another foreign programme, to do this. I watched loads of youtube videos, and many tutorials online, as well as sought advice from graphic design students who I knew around campus when I needed help or advice. I additionally did a lot of character research and re-watched the triology in this time, mainly focusing on the bonus features which included a lot of animator art and storyboards. Although it took me a whole week, I finally finished developing my own, personalised Woody!
Furthermore, I also became engrossed in a Beatles album cover from 'The White Album', obviously through it's complete dissimilarity to every other album on the page. The whole canvas is completely white, with simply the print of the words 'The BEATLES' on it. What further interested me is the lack of alignment on the product. The only text on the page is shifted to the right, and very slightly slanted. This gives the cover an overwhelmingly blasé effect, but moreso, makes it noticeable through its difference and breaking of tradition and unwritten rules. This album cover really inspired me, and I later based my work on it. 
I found that both websites were very rock and pop orientated, so I decided to search more contemporary artwork and found the artwork from the top 20 albums on the Billboard charts. Again, a simple album cover appealed to me. This was RnB/Hip-Hop/Soul artist Frank Ocean's recent, highly acclaimed release - Channel Orange. Once again, the title had simple but effective resemblance through artwork. The plain orange canvas is really eye-catching, with the contrasting fonts, as well as lowercase and uppercase, giving some character to the cover. Furthermore, their is a blue blood splat in the word channel which also serves as a random, but intriguing characteristic. In contrast to 'The White Album' the font used in this cover expressed its contemporary sound, which is a notion surrounded by Ocean's music, who represents a bricolage of music genres. The Beatles font however, looks like a print from a typewriter, showing that they are a band from an older decade. 
